It was a typical Sunday night for the Brewers. We couldn’t decide whether to eat leftovers, toss some burgers on the grill or maybe order a pizza. That’s when Nancy said, “How about fried chicken?
That’s not fair. If anybody ever mentions fried chicken during a conversation about food, all bets are off. Nothing, absolutely nothing will ever be able satisfy an appetite after “fried chicken” comes up. After all, how can you possibly enjoy food of any kind when your taste buds are drooling over the thought of a crispy fried drumstick?
So chicken it was.
We have a number of good chicken shacks in town – Popeye’s, Bojangles, Caine’s, Wayside and others, but when push comes to shove, it’s hard to beat the Colonel. So soon I was off to KFC’s newly remodeled restaurant on Emmett Street while Nancy set up the TV trays.
Once there, I thought I may as well go in and order so I could better peruse the menu, but it was drive-through only and the parking lot was full of cars. Somehow, I managed to squeeze in line behind 8 other vehicles. I had no choice but to wait in line as the parking lot was too full to even turn around. Amazingly, I wasn’t in the line more than 10 minutes, and my order was ready by the time I drove from the order window and around to the window to pay.
My hat is off to all those cooks and servers at KFC. They must be cooking 500 or 600 pieces of chicken an hour, then sorting and boxing everything perfectly. I told the fellow at the window “Good job” and he seemed to genuinely appreciate the compliment. They were working their tails off.
The hard part was driving home with that bucket of chicken in the front seat beside me, filling up my Jeep with that incredible aroma of fried chicken. I thought about pulling off the side of the road and eating mine then and there. But mustering every inch of will power, I didn’t.
At home, the chicken (Original Recipe, of course) was perfect. Hot, delicious and falling off the bone tender. We ate 7 out of the 8 pieces in the bucket. One of the best parts of the meal, though, was the cole slaw. KFC has the best cole slaw in the world. Crisp, a little sweet, and a perfect pairing with a hot, fried chicken thigh.
As the Colonel always says, “It’s finger licking good.”